NPR Tries to Track Down Those Millionaire Job Creators

In the debate over the payroll tax cut, Democrats want to pay for extending the tax break with a surtax on the wealthy. Republicans claim–usually without being challenged by reporters–that a surtax on millionaires would be an attack on job-creating small-business owners.

So NPR decided to go to GOP officials and ask to speak with these small-business-owning, millionaire job-creators. Turned out there was trouble finding any:

We wanted to talk to business owners who would be affected. So NPR requested help from numerous Republican congressional offices, including House and Senate leadership. They were unable to produce a single millionaire job creator for us to interview.

So we went to the business groups that have been lobbying against the surtax. Again, three days after putting in a request, none of them was able to find someone for us to talk to.

They did find a few wealthy business owners willing to talk–and they said their personal tax rate wasn’t a factor in their hiring decisions.

Imagine if journalists did this kind of thing all the time?

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Activism Director and and Co-producer of CounterSpinPeter Hart is the activism director at FAIR. He writes for FAIR's magazine Extra! and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR's syndicated radio show CounterSpin. He is the author of The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly (Seven Stories Press, 2003). Hart has been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Associated Press. He has also appeared on Showtime and in the movie Outfoxed. Follow Peter on Twitter at @peterfhart.

Well not all is well at NPR. NPR has become the website and radio network for music and book promotion. They refuse to give any but glowing reviews for every book and recording they cover. I’ve asked if publicists write their reviews. They’ve blocked me. I’ve sent them 60 screen grabs showing a ‘sponsor’ ad for a Musician on the same page with a current article on that musician. The conflicts of interest are rampant – few indies are covered. FAIR this isn’t fair.

This is no surprise as most people most likely have seen through this lame excuse used by the Republicans since they first started using it. Of course the super-rich aren’t the ones creating the jobs, as these recent years have been the most profitable for many of these super-rich, and mega corporations. And, yet, the jobs kept diminishing no matter how much more filthy rich these greedy people got.

It’s the consumers who create the jobs by creating the demand for the products. If the middle class has no money to buy products and services, guess what, less jobs will exists as companies aren’t going to pay people to build things when no one can afford them.

This is just a no-brainer and anyone who is sincere about our financial situation knows this. If, however, someone is only out for their own greedy profit, they will use whatever lie and excuse they can to protect their almighty dollar. Hence, the greediest of the super-rich are opposed to paying their fair share of taxes, and love it when they get away with paying zero in taxes. No concious, no compassion, need one say more?

I am glad Dean Baker flagged this story and that FAIR noted it. Tamara Keith did in this story exactly what so many of us have wanted – journalism. Insted of just repeating the ridiculous smokescreen terminology – “Job creators” that the GOP wants us to think they are defending, she actually went looking for some. The GOP and lobbying groups that write their talking points were unable to produce a single person who claimed that their marginal tax rate had anything to do with hiring decisions. Instead they found business people who said it had no effect and that they should be fairly taxed, having benefitted from the public sector. Kudos to her and NPR. Give us more, please.

On a somewhat related note, now the job creators and their friends in Congress are waging an all out war on clean air and clean water regulations that have been in place for decades. Having to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare and make this planet a less toxic place to live, interfere with profits and need to be repealed.

I have just had a three day experience with a job created by ATT&T. Of course they farm their annual telephone delivery blitz out. However, here’s the drill. They hire several of the many unemployed to deliver phone books. It works this way: they show a video on how to hand out phone books; they give you a mini-GPS so they can track your progress. The craziness of this is that you are “required” to click the GPS unit for every book you deliver AT THE ADDRESS IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOU SET IT DOWN. (efficiency experts they aren’t) This, of course, slows delivery.
They give you an inadequate very tiny map marked with the number of books any given street will get. They provide an alphabetical list of streets with no. of books for each street, as well as a companion page page with address, name, phone number plus an ID number. They tally the DDA Route Summary page with number of Business and Resident Stops on the route. They even calculate the total number of books and stops you will need. (Neither of these is very realistic)
They instruct you to place the book in the plastic bag, place the bag by the front door at the hinge side. We had a business section where about a third of the business had moved and where one streed was “unmapped” and therefore, unfindable.
The two routes we had had over 900 books and paid $130 plus $30 for gas (even though milleage was to be kept) and a $30 bonus if you did a great job, although “great job” was not defined. We had a “Ridge” Road in a county that had two short “ridge roads” several miles from one another. Had to guess on that one. It took three days to deliver this 900 books which, including gas, netted $53.33 a day, not taking into account the ware and tear on the car or the hoped for bonus. This amounts to around $4.44 per hour. Keep in mind that’s with two people working.
If this is an example of “job creators” work, it is inadequate. No doubt all the deliverers will be counted to lower the number of unemployed, even though no one in their right mind would stick with this for very long. I suspect that short term, piece work or part time work is the wave of the future. People desperate for work will do this work for at least a day. Some will finish their route and get paid. Others won’t finish their route they won’t get paid. There is no recourse for better routes, working conditions, or better pay as there is no cohesive group to establish a union, part time work doesn’t fall into fair hiring practices or minimum wage, etc. I’m quite certain that ATT&T is well aware of the limits of this job and the actual pay. Enough people have been doing it for enough years to have records of pay, efficiency, etc. The demise of unions will allow more and more employers to reduce employees to this kind of work.
I fear that if we continue down this path and more and more jobs are part time and piece work, we will return to 18th century working conditions and the middle class really will disapear.
Yet the Republicans continue to tell us that corporations are people and that they are the job creators. The reality clearly is otherwise.

You formed the real argument without even knowing it.The “few”millionaires you are chasing about for a bit more of their coin,(that seems to be the cornerstone of the entire Liberal movement) will accomplish next to nothing for the coffers even if you get it.It is called a red herring.Why not just say….We live in a time were 50% pay nothing(we will refer to them as the working man) in Fed Taxes ,and the top 5% pay almost everything.We call them “those who don’t pay their fair share”.We vow to chase them into hell for another 2% of their wealth.For “fairness sake”.Why not just begin this country again with the top 5% paying everyones bills on everything,for ever and ever and ever.Some of you actually are nodding in agreement.

Michael – Has it ever occurred to you that such a large percentage of people pay “nothing” in Fed. Taxes do so because they earn too little to be taxed? The top 5% make the most money and, of course, their tax base is large. Do the math.

An example of good journalism, robust and courageous. I frequently complain about Morning Edition as taking an obsequious, flaccid approach, what with its constant yacking about the Presidential election (as though that’s the only political story or lens to look through for any political story), uncritical repetition of talking points, etc. Here is a welcome exception!

Liz..Of course it occurred to me.But 50% must be nearing the point of no return, wouldn’t you say?And 5% paying such a huge amount is just as insane.At least the 999 bill for all its flaws had everybody giving something.My father always said you will respect things more when YOU pay for them.i am all for an end to loopholes.I would like the simplest tax there is(flat tax).(Then a good portion of Obamas cabinet wouldn’t be tax cheats because they didn’t understand the laws.)I just have not seen a decent plan from the left.It is all centered on taxing the rich.A move even Clinton admits will do nothing.

Michael – First my name is Elizabeth, not Liz. Second the 999 tax plan would cost most of us, rich and poor alike 27%. Flat tax is a disgraceful effort to completely ruin the middle and lower classes. The uber rich would glory in it. You quote a Clinton but don’t say which Clilnton?
As to the “job creators” which my post and the NPR item addressed, you seem to have missed the point in order to talk about flat taxes, protecting the rich, etc.
The Republicans are praising the rich (and corporations) as “job creators” and as such should be given even greater tax breaks than they currently have. So far they haven’t done much to deserve that designation or lower taxes. Economicst tell us that the real job creators are small businessmen (and women), not large businesses. I used my experience working for ATT&T to illustrate the kind of job that ATT is currently “creating” as it does every year about this time. It is hardly a job to brag about having created. It is indicative of our economy and system that this will be the type of job that we’ll see more and more of in the future. Temp jobs and part time jobs are the wave of the future.
Anyone who has been looking for work in the past 3 or 4 years will tell you that we have an unemployment problem that measures way above the 8.6% currently bragged about in the press.
Economists place it more somewhere between 25/30%. That means there are only about 25% of poor people to pay any of the taxes you and your ilk keep declaring they don’t pay. The number of people who applied to delivery directories was huge. This gives ATT “permission” to abuse those they hire, knowing that this low skill job will be filled by whomever they didn’t hire in the first round, should the current group get disgusted with being abused and quit.
You appear to be a person who because he is “OK” you have little concerned about the unwashed other. Unfortunately, you fail to realize that when half the population is failing economically, it has a devastating effect on the other half. Blaming them for the failure of our system, i.e. no jobs, and recommending that they simply go away or die is not a solution.
When this kind of social problems arise it erodes every part of our society. Should nothing be done to change it, we will reach a sort of corporate serfdom. Capitalism in it’s purest form may not be so bad, but our current march toward oligarchy is unconscionable.

My apologies for the mangled English in the last post, but I expect you can decifer the content. This is an example of what happens to the mind of an older person who takes a job that abuses them. Or, it is what happens when you edit and don’t re-read it carefully enough.

Sorry for calling you Liz.I had an amazing aunt Elizabeth ,we always called aunt Liz.My name by the way is not Michael.Michael e /was a play on Mikeee will eat it.It was a spur of the moment thing.But Michael is fine I suppose.
I totally disagree a flat tax would hurt the poor.It could be tweaked in many ways to protect those most unfortunate among us.It would end all loop holes.All tax breaks for the rich(250K) and super rich.It would put control of savings where they belong.The individual.In the models I have seen,i believe it to be imminently fair(if formulated correctly).The middle class are suffering on a level that really is beyond taxation.Whether flat or graduated.I think it will help them.This year they decide not to buy that car so they save that money.I think Government will be forced to curtail speculative deficit spending. Corporatism is an idea the left often floats as a boogie man.I don’t buy it or into it.I need specificity on that.What corporation is destroying this country,and all those who work for it?
I totally agree the employment problem is far far worse than what the president admits to.Problem is Elizabeth,only those starting new businesses can hire people.70% of our economy moving forward depends on this.My only question always is…does this government make this country thee most business friendly place on the face of the earth befitting our core beliefs?The answer is no.Does this country believe in taxing in ever growing ways an ever shrinking “upper class”. Yes.That is all the left has.Look at Art Laffer who defends trickle down.Read his views.Obama often says the math is the math.To me it is obvious he does not get the math. Europe’s socialist experiment is ending.I think ours is as well.i do not think unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit of this country by removing government interference will result in an oligarchy.Just the opposite.It has always worked in the past.

Oh sorry- i was quoting Bill Clinton of course.Hilary is very well and truly muzzled befitting her job as S of S.I would give my right arm(well ok maybe not)to hear her real views on what has gone on the last 3 years.Guess we will wait for the book.

A wonderful article … now it is time for someone to pull together all the other articles with this same message over a long period of time and make some conclusions about Republicans and analyze what the real Republican agenda is. That is if people are not scared to death or intimidated by fearing something bad will happen to them.

It started for me when I began reading about the estate tax and how Republicans hired people to drive tractors through Washington in an attempt, that I guess worked, to claim that family farmers woulld be hurt and driven out of business by taxing businesses. There never was one documented cases of a family farm going out of business because of estate taxes.

Then the claim that drug companies would not try to develop new drugs if they were regulated or taxes. Same thing, and now with all the money they save most of their effort is to leverage public research done in public institutions while they privately try to tweak old drugs enough so they can call them new drugs and maintain their patent protections.

The issues go on and one, and I think even most Americans must know this, or if they don’t they need to be educated on it. Republicans are liars, and their lying technology is so powerful it led them into consolidating and hierarchicalizing the media all over America, calling the squashing of Liberal voices lack of market demand and ramming neverending unreasoned right wing talk radio and TV down our throats.

So Democrats are not perfect, in fact not that much better in terms of speaking for Americans or representing the opposition, but what would you expect when these folks who are our leaders are all dependent on the same money streams for their campaign cash, and the same media for their channels to talk to the people?